By Nathaniel Gondo
When Lienne Shonhiwa Marwizi started Manetain Organics in 2017, being a top manufacturer
was a distant dream. Just six years later, the haircare brand is the epitome of homegrown
entrepreneurial success, and their receipt of the coveted Manufacturing Award at the recently
held Women in Enterprise Conference and Awards (WECA) was confirmation.
The WECA’s are organised by the Women’s Desk, a sub-committee of the Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC). The Women’s Desk seeks to build entrepreneurship ecosystems that support women-owned MSMEs at all stages of development and across all sectors, including rural areas; and provides mechanisms to ensure that women benefit from access to finance.
The WECA’s are a celebration of women-owned enterprises across all industries in Zimbabwe.
The 10th edition of the awards were held on September 29 at the Zimbali Events and Lifestyle
Centre, Harare. 2023’s theme was ‘Transforming Economic Realities into Market Opportunities.’
The guest of honour was the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Sithembiso Nyoni.
Manetain Organics scooped the highly contested Manufacturing award, trumping other
companies in Construction and Marketing. Chief Executive Officer and founder, Lienne
Shonhiwa Marwizi was humbled by the accolade, a manifestation of the brand’s goal to become
one of the best manufacturers of haircare products, in Zimbabwe and beyond.
She says, “It’s an honour to receive an award in such a highly esteemed and competitive
category. Our vision is to become one of the leading manufacturers of natural hair products not only in Zimbabwe but in the region and this award serves as recognition of our work towards that.”
She heaped praises on ZNCC for the work they are doing to promote and recognize
entrepreneurs, which motivates her and her industry peers to continue contributing towards
the progression of the nation.
She goes further, “I would like to thank the ZNCC board and various stakeholders for this award. This award is confirmation to me and to those in my industry that we are on the right path of building the manufacturing sector. I hope we continue to build and contribute to the economy as well as make the nation of Zimbabwe proud.”
Marwizi presumes what gave Manetain Organics the edge is their unwavering devotion to
quality, as well as their pursuit of national pride.
“I believe what made us stand out is not only our commitment to providing good quality hair
products to our customers, but also our drive to fly the Zimbabwean flag high,” alludes Marwizi.
The ingredients that make Manetain Organics are sourced locally, and they are native to
Zimbabwe. Marwizi adds, “We make use of indigenous ingredients that are unique to
Zimbabwe and highlight the best of what we have to offer as a country.”
Manetain Organics also makes a positive contribution in the communities from which they
source their ingredients from. They’ve become a much needed source of income for the local
women who have indigenous knowledge of herbs and oils required to make their haircare
products.
“We also offer an alternative source of income for the women from where we source our raw
materials from. This is one of our goals to promote community development in low income
areas,” narrates Marwizi.
Marwizi and the Manetain Organics story is testament to the possibilities abound in the
Zimbabwean beauty industry. She started off small, and six years later Manetain Organics is in
supermarkets across Zimbabwe, and in Zambia. If Marwizi did it, you can do it too.
“It means that it can be done. I started off with four products, selling and doing door to door
deliveries by myself. Now we have over thirty products and can be found in big retail
supermarkets like PickNPay,” she beams.
The journey from bootstrapping startup to top manufacturer has not been all rosy. However,
Marwizi’s dedication and consistency has helped her navigate through never-ending economic
challenges. She also highlighted the importance of collaboration as a means of survival. Surely,
we rise by lifting others.
“I was resilient and found a way to pivot and survive when the economic climate changed. We
need more people in the industry weathering the storm. We need to start collaborating and
finding ways to help one another. When we work together we have a greater chance of
surviving than when we try to do it all on our own,” she explains.
Always innovating, Manetain Organics also offers distribution opportunities to small businesses.
Marwizi believes their haircare products should reach every corner of Zimbabwe, and what
better way to do it than by uplifting other budding entrepreneurs. She also revealed they will
be offering business coaching for small businesses in the near future.
Manetain Organics is your all weather friend for your natural hair journey. Get their products at
PickNPay stores nationwide. You can also visit their flagship shop at Number 167 Enterprise
Road, Chisipite. Stay up to date with this inspiring brand on social media. Like their Facebook page, follow them on X, and follow their Instagram account.
